What is Digg?33 Comments
- Deliman, on 10/11/2007, -8/+23"Rising Star on the Internet -- but Still Lags in the Real World"
"Despite the growing fan base, Paul's candidacy is still a long shot."
Ron Paul was right. The MSM will try to push him out by convincing America that he is a fringe candidate. Everytime they mention him and give any word to his popularity they make sure to quickly stress that he is fringe and won't win. - llepard, on 10/11/2007, -3/+18"Running Strong in Cyberspace"
Yes, and Cyberspace is the "canary in the coal mine" for all major social trends. Look out mainstream media and politicians. RP is a cultural phenomena and you are going to hear a lot more about him. Get used to it. - lakush, on 10/11/2007, -4/+17Ron Paul is actually a mainstream republican. Its the neocons that are the fringe candidates. ABC would like us to ignore this.
Dare we admit Ron has garnered a strong following through being the only true populist candidate? - Corrosionx, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14Kent Brockman: "How wide is the web?"
Lisa: "World..."
Kent Brockman: "Wow!" - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13How long will the mainstream media continue to think of the 'internets' as some other planet and the folks using the net as someone other than the masses which they represent? It's a tool, not a place and the users are people not some nebulous statistics. It's time the mainstream woke up and realized that they can't marginalize the internet, but the power of the internet will marginalize their old and tired forms of 'reporting'.
- Corrosionx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9You can't expect the mainstream media to start reporting "facts", their owners wouldn't take kindly to that.
- understudy, on 10/11/2007, -4/+13
@ncairns
You seem to be saying that if a candidate doesn't poll well in offline polls, then supporting them is a joke. That sentiment is like saying, "I'm only going to support those candidates that the media tells me have lots of support."
How can your opinion matter if all you do is go along with the crowd?
_
PS: I've worked for Gallup. It's not as scientific as they'd have you believe. - DeskFlyer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10KING OF THE TUBES!1!
- slugicide, on 10/11/2007, -9/+15...on the Internet.
- Cutkomp, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Regardless, this is probably the best piece to come out on RP from the MSM so far in this campaign. It'd be nice, but can't expect MSM to change tune overnight. Besides, now is not the time to be the conclusive frontrunner, too early.
- dukeeeey, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9The internet is the last place where people truely have freedom of speech.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Anyone who doesn't support Ron Paul should have to come back next generation and answer the question 'what ever happened to the constitution?'.
- popflop, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5I think the real news here is that the article says Ron Paul is going to be on the Daily Show next week! I don't know about everyone else but I sure didn't know that!! Go RP!
- understudy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5
@ncairns
I said nothing about the two-party system. Also, your name-calling toward Ron Paul was unprovoked and immature.
Finally, I've been to a Ron Paul event, and while there are people in their 20s there, there are also lots of people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and even 60s and 70s. You're trying to label Ron Paul's support as something from a single demographic without a shred of evidence. Why is that?
If you're frightened of Ron Paul's support, I can understand. If you really felt Ron Paul didn't matter, you wouldn't even take the time to follow these stories and take the time to comment on them. So perhaps you can explain to everyone why you support whomever it is that you do support and why that involves being Anti-Ron Paul?
_ - UnFriendlyFire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Response to all of the Ron Paul detractors:
I support Ron Paul.
I have voted for every Republican candidate for president since 1984.
I am a Republican.
I am not a 20-something, I am 41 years old.
My parents (in their 70's) support Ron Paul.
They are also life-long Republicans.
Rom Paul IS main-stream.
The popular media is not main-stream.
It is globalist propaganda and a side show distraction.
I support Ron Paul. - fuzzmeister, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3That's because it's almost free to use, compared to running, say, a TV station or a newspaper. If everyone could afford to set up their own TV station, then TV would be a bastion of free speech.
- PoeticExplosion, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4@popflop:
And the colbert report!
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Ron_Paul_on_both_the_Daily_Show_and_the_Colbert_Report_in_June - r3gis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Since it is real people that are on the internet, Ron Paul has support in the Real World. It is simply the internet that is the medium of his support, where others have support on other media. The MSM seems to think that they are the Real World, and it is their support that counts. But unfortunately for them, they can't control the elections (hopefully), where, like internet polls, people chose to vote in them.
- FreeRepublic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Granted Ron Paul's mainstream poll numbers are very weak indeed. I don't know how the questions are read to people. Does the person asking the questions actually read the names of every one that is running for the GOP nomination? Or do they just give a few names and then people have to volunteer Ron Paul's name at the end if they want it on the poll? If that is how it is done it would seem very difficult for Ron Paul to garner support if his name wasn't mentioned at all? I don't know. How do most people act when a company calls a person and asks them questions about politics on the phone? Most people I would assume just want to get the heck off of the phone as soon as possible. Maybe that might have something to do with why 'fringe' candidates are not getting better numbers.
- Cutkomp, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3@corrosionX
Haha, you almost made me spit out my coffee. Thanks. - fatalfury, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Thats wrong. Right now I can say almost anything to almost anybody off the internet. I would say the internet is the last place where the average Joe can get his thoughts or facts out there to large audience and people will listen.
- BrandonMills, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Well, it's a story, but again I still feel like I'm being fed by a particular interest group here at Digg. Have you guys read any positive articles on any aspects of any other candidates, Republican, Democrat, or other, in the last few months?
I'm afraid though that internet popularity still doesn't translate into real life popularity. Furthermore, popularity aside, if the Republican party forces him out of the primaries, his internet popularity doesn't matter. Jesus himself couldn't win as a Libertarian candidate in our country as of now. Too many people are guaranteed Democrat or Republican voters.
And of course, I'll get Dugg down for stepping into the realm of reality, instead of waving a Ron Paul flag. - fuzzmeister, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3You can't deny that he is a fringe candidate, and as of the moment, he has no chance of winning. However, it is unfair for the media to dismiss him for this, as the election isn't for quite a while, and support waxes and wanes very dramatically these days.
- fuzzmeister, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Once Ron Paul gets significant support in major, offline polls, then he will be someone I will pay attention to. I have no problem with people supporting him, but at least at the moment, he has a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
- Ianki, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I agree. It's weird to participate in a community that goes bananas over every instance of perceived censorship, meanwhile using a service that literally lets you hide comments you disagree with. Every comment so far that has suggested that maybe spammed internet polling might not be the better estimate of public opinion over randomly sampled and indirect polling measures has been dugg down.
Being popular on the internet is not a bad thing, i just wish people would stop trying to convince me that internet perceptions coincide with reality. If you believe in the candidate, please try to get that candidate the recognition they might deserve in more than just this medium. Spammed articles in one forum does not equate widespread acceptance, no matter how passionate that community might be. - ncairns, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1@understudy
God you people are funny. You really think you have the requisite support to take that tired, "you must be afraid of him since you object to Digg being spammed by his mindless zombies who have somehow managed to delude themselves into believing this election year will be ANY ***** DIFFERENT than the 43 previous," line?
You're right - you didn't say anything about a two-party system, because avoiding admitting the reality of the political climate in the United States is the only way you idiots have managed to buy into your own *****, en masse, in some boring, contrived pact to throw away your votes.
Christ, I can't *wait* until November 2008 so Ron Paul's smug, naive pawns will shut the ***** up already. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1You don't think the NSA has technology already monitoring the web?
- ncairns, on 10/11/2007, -15/+11Yeah, I blame that on the fact that the "mainstream" polls aren't held online through places like Facebook and MySpace which can easily be cheated, and use their "real" polling methods with their "statistics" and "scientific techniques."
http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08rep.htm
You people are such a joke. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -6/+2We need a "life sucks for Ron Paul" section. Getting really tired of these stories.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -8/+1He *is* fringe.
Not many Americans support isolationism, and the return to the gold standard. All the libs here on Digg may, but they're a minority of the population. - ncairns, on 10/11/2007, -9/+1@understudy
While that's all fine and well in *fantasy world* here in reality it's a two-party system. I don't like it either, but it's going to take a *much* more fundamental change in the system than a loose association of pseudo-revolutionary 20 year-olds rallying behind a 71 year-old douchebag to do anything about it.
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